A key reimbursement rate announcement was "likely the best case scenario for Medicare Advantage operators" like Humana and UnitedHealth.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services late Monday announced that it would increase Medicare Advantage reimbursement rates by 3.3%, a reversal from its earlier plan to drop them 2.2%. Although this may still translate into a slight decline in 2014 (as previously anticipated), intense lobbying efforts by insurers, which warned of...